Early Childhood Gross Motor Development ch8 NARRATOR 1: In early childhood, growth rates slow, with the average child growing two and a half inches in height and gaining five to seven pounds a year. During this period, rapid gains are seen in gross motor skills. Gross motor skills involve large muscle movements or movements of the entire body. [CHILDREN SHOUTING] Two and three-year-old children have begun to walk and run with ease, but their coordination and balance have yet to fully mature. This leads to their often less than graceful approach to stairs and dancing. NARRATOR 2: Olivia, who is three and a half, can almost hop on one foot without support. She can kick a ball, but she can't yet throw and catch a ball easily, using her body as well as her hands and arms in her attempt. By the age of four, most children can jump, skip, and hop on one foot, as well as run much faster than they could at two or three. [CHILDREN SHOUTING] NARRATOR 1: Although all of the children in the gym have met the motor milestones for their age, there is much individual variation in their coordination of motor skills, which affects how well they perform in the beanbag activity. [CHILDREN SHOUTING] Girls and boys perform relatively equally with regard to gross motor skills in the preschool years, a trend that will begin to change with age. [CHILDREN SHOUTING]